India take breather in Galle before final two days of preparation

Image: Debasis Sen

Vaibhav Tripathi, Galle

The Indian team had just arrived in Galle on Tuesday afternoon, and what followed was a heavy spell of rain. The weather forecast for the three-day match suggested that there would be plenty of rain at the Nondescripts Cricket Club. However, that didn’t happen. Fortunately for Team India, the rain gods favoured them and didn’t spoil their preparations. Now that they are in Galle, and the forecast for the city for the upcoming days, including the match days, isn’t promising. Rain is predicted on all days. The visitors as well as the hosts would be hoping that the weather forecast goes wrong, as for both teams, the two-match Test series is very important. In order to qualify for the WTC final. Neither team can afford a drawn Test match.

Keeping aside the weather, the Indian team, after arriving in Galle, was seen relaxing. A much-needed rest. After what was six days of intense grind at the NCC, the players could finally relax, with Tuesday being the travel day.

The second day in Galle for the Indian team will see no training, as they have opted for complete rest on Wednesday. This leaves India with two days of practice before they play the match on Saturday, August 15. On both days, the team is likely to train if the weather doesn’t play spoilsport. While the sessions at the NCC gave a clear idea as to what could be India’s playing XI, the picture will get clearer closer to the match.

Getting a hang of the conditions in Galle for Team India will be important, as most of the players in the current squad haven’t played Test cricket at this venue. Only Ravindra Jadeja has done so. Devdutt Padikkal, Gurnoor Brar, Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi are the ones who have played at the venue most recently, when they came with the India A squad for the two unofficial Tests.

The last time India played here, they registered an emphatic 304-run win. India posted 600 in the first innings, and Sri Lanka couldn’t get past the 300-run mark in either innings.

While it’s largely assumed that the pitch for the series opener is going to spin, the wickets in Galle have played better for batters in the last couple of years. In the last Test played at the venue, close to 500 runs were scored by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their respective first innings. Before that, when Australia came last year, their batters also enjoyed the conditions.

How the Galle wicket will play this time around is anybody’s guess.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka haven’t officially announced their squad, but the hosts have been practising at Galle since August 8, as earlier reported by RevSportz.

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The post India take breather in Galle before final two days of preparation appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



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